Sebamed Class Action Says Body Wash pH Levels Misrepresented

Sebamed skin care products are falsely advertised as having a pH balance of exactly 5.5, which is allegedly an ideal pH for healthy skin, when the pH of the products do not actually measure 5.5, according to a class action lawsuit removed last week to a California federal court.

The Sebamed class action lawsuit names as defendants manufacturer Sebapharma Gmbh & Co. KG, distributor Physician Laboratories Inc., and several retailers that have sold Sebapharma products throughout the United States.

Physician Laboratories and Sebapharma, a German company, allegedly market their skin care products as having a “pH balance of exactly 5.5,” which is reportedly the pH of healthy skin.

The Sebamed class action lawsuit notes a claim on the label of Sebamed liquid face & body wash, which purports to explain the science behind healthy skin.

“Every Sebamed product is meticulously formulated to a pH balance of exactly 5.5 – precisely the pH of healthy skin,” the label of Sebamed face & body wash states. “This is essential in maintaining your skin’s natural hydrolipid barrier against environmental stress. Any other pH level, such as found in soap, may leave your skin open to break-down and deterioration.”

Plaintiff Melissa Rivas says these 5.5 pH claims are false and points to lab reports of a variety of Sebamed skin care products which allegedly have pH measurements ranging from 5.63 to 6.27.

“The lab results unequivocally demonstrate that Defendants Sebapharma’s and Physycian’s labeling and marketing representation products are false and fraudulent; the Sebamed Products are not ‘exactly 5.5 pH’ as represented,” the Sebamed class action lawsuit states.

Rivas claims that the defendants’ intended to deceive consumers about the Sebamed products’ qualities and to “reap millions of dollars in fraudulently procured funds.”

Rivas says she relied on the defendants’ false representations that the products were formulated to have a pH balance of exactly 5.5 and that this pH balance was ideal to promote healthy skin. If she and the putative Class Members had known the Sebamed products were falsely labeled and marketed, they would not have purchased the products or would not have paid a premium price for the products, according to the Sebamed class action lawsuit.

Rivas filed the Sebamed class action lawsuit on behalf of herself and a proposed Class of consumers who purchased Sebamed products in California since 2014 that were misrepresented as having a pH of exactly 5.5.

The Sebamed class action lawsuit asserts claims for violations of the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, negligent misrepresentation, violations of California’s False Advertising Law, violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law, breach of implied warranty, and intentional misrepresentation.

Rivas seeks an order compelling the defendants to stop marketing Sebamed products with false and misleading claims about their pH levels, conduct a corrective advertising campaign, destroy the misleading and deceptive materials and products, offer compensation to consumers who purchased the allegedly mislabeled products, and pay attorneys’ fees and costs.

She has demanded a jury trial.

Rivas is represented by Jeffrey S. Benice of Benice Law.

The Sebamed pH Balance Class Action Lawsuit is Melissa Rivas v. Physician Laboratories Inc., et al., Case No. 8:18-cv-00729, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.